The weekend, as usual, did go by too fast
But oddly enough… it wasn't just because of the stress of the upcoming week.
Rather… Maria had realized that, as short as the time spent with Timothy was, it was… rather fulfilling. More so than just the fact they were able to finish the project in two days.
Timothy was very kind and understanding, not ever belittling or insulting her for any mistake or weird thing she did. He actually admitted to have looked at her online portfolio, but after her initial panic he told her that he found her nature photos very beautiful, and, as he said "pretty damn professional!". That alone surprised her, and made her feel pride, something she thought she'd almost lost completely during the last five years.
Maria tried her best to ignore the feelings of attachment she was starting to feel towards him, because, as much as the small linger of hope in her heart would tell her Timothy was a friend, a large part of herself was still very very skeptical about his true intentions. Just because he was new didn't necessarily mean he didn't know anything about her. He might've very well just approached her because he wanted more info, to later on relay to his friends about it.
But… maybe not…
That was bothering her a bit. She wasn't sure if the feelings of distrust were warranted. She didn't want to lose a potential friend by being too cold and distant, but if he ever turned out to really just be manipulating her, she didn't want to be too surprised.
Maria didn't tell her parents about Timothy. She didn't want to give them any false hope, at least, not until she was sure it was okay to talk about it
As she went up to the bus, she realized that he was sitting there already. As he noticed her, he stood up and let her take her place near the window.
That's probably when she remembered just how tall he was compared to her. As many times had Maria been called a beanpole, she wasn't actually that tall, only 5'6", but this guy… he was maybe over 6 feet. Standing up, his head touched the ceiling of the bus, forcing him to bend over a bit awkwardly. That height, along the muscular build and football jersey, definitely felt very jock-like. If he weren't so nice, she'd definitely be a bit scared of him.
As they both sat down, he looked at her and smiled softly. "So, uh, I was wondering earlier… why don't you want anyone to see your pictures?" He asked. Maria frowned, clutching her camera bag in her hand. "They're not that good, p-plus, I don't want to give them another reason to make fun of me…"
Timothy's smile faded, and concern shielded his gaze. "Is… is it that bad?"
"You heard those girls yesterday, during swimming class… what they said about me..." Maria said softly.
Timothy sighed softly, and pat her shoulder. "S'alright. I get it."
Then, his smile came back, accompanied this time by a glimmer in his eyes. "Y'know, how about we eat together at lunchtime. Those girls asked me to eat with them but..." he scoffed "I'll go ahead and assume it'd be way more fun with you than them." He grinned happily, and Maria chuckled. "Thanks… I'm not much of a talker during lunchtime, though."
Timothy chuckled. "Well I don't mind, don't worry."
The bus stopped, and they had to go their separate ways, but before Maria lost him in the crowd, she noticed him waving at her. Timidly, she waved back, and walked off, her heart a bit less heavy than what it was before.
Not sure if by chance or not, but thankfully, nothing happened in between that and the end of second period. She hoped it wasn't just a coincidence.
As the bell announcing lunch rang, and Maria walked out, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned around, surprised.
"I have some things to take care of first, but uh… where do you usually eat?"
It was Timothy. Thank god.
"Uh, well, I was thinking about hanging around the big trees in the front. Where there's a bench and a few rocks?"
Timothy smiled and nodded. "Gotcha. Gimme like, ten minutes, I'll come join you."
Then he ran off the opposite direction, and Maria motioned to her locker, taking her lunchbox and camera bag, before walking outside.
Today was a very nice day. There weren't too many clouds, and along with the cool breeze was a warm weather, not too humid or dry. Perfect to take a few pictures.
Maria sat on a large, flat rock, opting to not sit on the bench as it looked a bit wet, taking time to look at the trees and flowers around her as she opened up her lunchbox and started eating.
She liked being out here. It was quiet. Calm. Peaceful.
She saw something move in her field of vision, and slowly looked to the side.
A blue jay.
A male, definitely, with bright blue wings mashing in with the black and white stripes, puffed out chest and head high, standing still so elegantly, like he knew he had encountered a photograph.
They were rather rare at this time of year, Maria thought. She should take a picture.
She had just gotten her camera, however, when she heard footsteps. The bird flew away, and Maria sighed.
"Hey! What's she doing there all alone, huh guys?"
Maria turned around. It was some guys from her grade, the same ones who threw that yogurt on her the day before.
Please. Not again…
She wasn't quick enough to react when one of them grabbed her camera. Maria winced silently, eyes wide. She wanted to tell them to stop, but she was too scared for her voice to come out. If she were to fight back, what would they do?
"What's that? You were taking pics of the grass for your Instagram, that it?"
"You should tell us your handle, we'll totally follow you!"
"Bet the whole school would love knowing about it!"
They laughed, and then the guy threw the camera at his friend. Instinctively, Maria got up, and squealed. That's the best she could muster up right now.
"Aw, what you want it?"
The guy feigned dropping it, before he threw it to his other friend, who threw it back to him. They all laughed, and started tossing it around, while Maria watched helplessly, once more.
But then, one of them wasn't able to catch it. It slipped between his fingers and fell on the ground, in a loud crash. The lense exploded, sides caved in, pieces of glass and plastic flew around, and the guys, realizing what just happened, started laughing, and quickly ran away.
"Sorry!!" Said one of the guys, with a very sarcastic tone.
It went so fast that Maria was barely able to process it, simply standing there, staring at the ground, in shock.
They broke her camera?
They broke her camera!
They broke her camera!?
The bullies were only a few meters away as they bumped into Timothy, who just got back, lunch bag on his shoulder. Timothy looked at the group, then at Maria, then at the group again, who had only picked up the pace, except one, who whispered something in his ear, pointing at Maria, then ran off, laughing. Timothy's expression went from confused to shocked, and he ran towards Maria, crouching down in front of the camera, as soft, distraught "no, no no no…" came out of his mouth, his trembling fingers pushing around the shattered pieces of it.
He stopped, and looked at Maria, who was now sitting on the rock again, and sniffled a bit, too much in shock to do anything more.
"They broke my camera…" she mumbled, voice shivering.
Timothy got up, and grabbed her shoulders, staring at her intensely. "Did they do anything else?" He asked, a bit loudly, subtly looking around her body for any sign of a wound or concussion.
Gaze blank, Maria shook her head. They weren't the type to do that. Timothy frowned, and looked back at the camera, crouching down, then picking up its dismembered corpse and turning it around in his hands.
"Is the-the card still okay? T-the card thingy, that saves the images?"
"Oh. Yeah. I hope so..."
Timothy quickly found the compartment, and opened it, sliding the SD card out, and sighed. "Oh, it's intact, thank god."
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